


Are You Crazy?

by superpsychtime



Category: Supernatural
Genre: M/M, Vampire AU, Vampires
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-18
Updated: 2020-06-02
Packaged: 2021-03-03 00:13:41
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 16,056
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24245578
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/superpsychtime/pseuds/superpsychtime
Summary: In which Cas is a vampire but everything else is pretty much the same.Written in between seasons 8-10.
Relationships: Castiel/Dean Winchester, Jessica Moore/Sam Winchester
Kudos: 10





	1. An Unexpected Turn

As he took a shortcut through the forest to get back to his motel room, Dean knew he was not alone. 

His suspicion was further confirmed every few minutes when he'd hear a rustle in the leaves, or a twig snap. Sure, it could have just been an innocent woodland creature, perhaps a rabbit that was following him, but his instincts knew better and his gut told him otherwise. He knew he was being hunted, but by what? He wasn't in the right forest for it to be a wendigo, a shapeshifter would have made the stalking more obvious, and any other creature or spirit would have already attacked by now.

Maybe it's a new son of a gun Dean thought as a shiver went down his spine. His day had already been filled to the brim with ganking monsters and he was positive that he didn't have enough energy nor the right weaponry to kill any new type of monsters. Not today anyway.

Against his better judgement, Dean continued on through the forest, slightly quickening his pace. He didn't want to break out into a run yet and give whatever it was that was following him a nice chase before it ate/killed/maimed him.

When he heard a larger stick break, followed by the rustle of leaves, indicating that whatever was obviously following him wanted to be acknowledged, he gave in. He turned around and yelled, "Okay smart aleck you can come out now! We both know you want some of this, but you're gonna have to earn it first!" Dean hoped his light taunting would help to draw out the monster, not anger it.

Judging by how furious the sounds of the following growls he heard were, it was clear that he got the latter. Despite his instinct to run, Dean remained calm. Even though there was the astoundingly high chance that he could die in those woods, he still remained, relatively, calm.

Slowly, he reached into his pocket to take out his gun with one hand, and with the other he patted his back pocket to make sure the demon blade was still there. He knew those weapons would most likely be of no use, but he still liked to have the comfort of them being there.

That's when he felt it. That tingly sensation, like someone's behind you. He whipped his head around so fast that he almost bumped into the stranger standing behind him, proving his assumptions to be correct. Dean stumbled backward, away from the strange human who seemed to come out of no where. Well, at least what looked like a human.

The guy Dean was now face to face with bore a cream colored trenchcoat, one that was so big it practically drowned the rest of his body. Stubble speckled his chin and surrounded his pink, chapped lips. On the top of his head sat a mop of disheveled, unruly dark brown hair. He was about Dean's height, albeit a bit shorter.

His most intriguing feature, however, was none other than his piercing blue eyes. They were such a vivid blue that they intensified his hold on Dean. His knitted brow added even more hatred to his glare, which sent chills through Dean's entire body.

Suddenly Dean noticed their close proximity, that they were only mere inches apart, but before he could break the uncomfortable silence, the mysterious stranger pinned him against a tree, knocking the wind out of him. It all happened so fast that Dean was temporarily dazed, trying to process what just happened. When he returned to his senses, he began to violently kick at the man, since his hands were being pinned down.

He put all of his power into his kicks, but they were more or less ignored by the guy. In fact, they had no effect on him at all as he continued to hold Dean to the tree and stare through him. Feeling defeated, and more than a bit uncomfortable, Dean stopped kicking. Once he had done so, the man took that as his cue to start the inevitable conversation.

"Who are you?" the stranger said, "State your name and purpose." The gruffness of his voice was enough to leave Dean slightly taken aback, but he quickly found his voice.

"The name's Dean Winchester," he boasted, "You may have heard of me and my brother, Sam. Yeah, we're the guys monsters like you have nightmares about, so I would suggest you let me go." He decided to throw in his real name for good measure because he was a freakin' Winchester and that had to count for something. He and Sam had to have slaughtered hundreds of different types of monsters in their time, and if nothing else, he wanted to provoke some fear into his potential kidnapper.

The stranger did not loosen his grip on Dean, nor did he break eye contact, but instead he cocked his head to the side and smirked. "Silly insignificant human," he growled, "Are you actually trying to intimidate me?" His smirk turned into a full blown toothy grin, but nevertheless, it was still menacing. "Try and put this through that thick skull of yours," his hand shot up to grasp Dean's neck as he hissed his threat through gritted teeth, "There is absolutely nothing stopping me from bleeding you dry right now." His grip on Dean's throat gradually got tighter as he threatened his prey.

So it's a vampire, Dean thought, with an odd sense of relief. At least it was something he knew how to handle. Of course, he didn't have the right tools for handling it, but at least he had a good idea of what the vampire was thinking. Despite the fact that he was getting dizzy from lack of oxygen, he began to think of his next move while he slowly reached for the demon knife with his free hand. The vampire quickly caught on and moved his hand from his throat to swiftly pin down his wandering hand, quick as a flash.

Even though he was in quite a complicated situation, Dean still had an essence of calmness to him, a state in which those near death can feel. He couldn't quite put his finger on why not even a hint of adrenaline was rushing through his veins, but in general he was finding it hard to concentrate. The vampire's sharp sapphire eyes were staring daggers into his green ones, and Dean would be lying if he said he didn't find that more than a bit endearing. As he stared into his eyes to find something other than pure hatred, and found nothing, they still possessed the ability to be tranquil in a way Dean couldn't wrap his head around.

"If you're as big and bad as you say you are," Dean said, feeling conquered, "Then why haven't you ended me all ready?"

The vampire, to the surprise of Dean, lowered his arm from pinning his chest and took a step back. He tilted his head to other side while he kept his perplexed expression, along with the intense eye contact, and said, "What? You don't think you deserve to be saved?"

At first Dean figured his question to be rhetorical, but the silence and staring that followed told him otherwise. While he contemplated his answer, he took a moment to swallow in an attempt to ease his dramatically dry throat when suddenly, the vampire jerked his head to the right, breaking their staring contest. He stared off into the distance for several seconds, as if listening for something. He looked back at Dean and said, "My brethren are coming. Soon they will pick up your scent, and when they do, they will deliberately suck you dry, ever so slowly. When they see that I haven't done so already, I'll have a most... unpleasant consequence. We must hide immediately," and with that, the vampire started heading off in the other direction.

The urgency in his voice told Dean that it was probably best to follow, but why should he trust a vampire? He hadn't heard any suspicious noises, and for all he knew the vampire could've been lying to him simply to lead him to a nest of blood suckers.

"No." Dean said defiantly, crossing his arms for good measure and not caring that it made him look like a child about to throw a tantrum.

The trench coat wearing vampire spun around to face the human. "No?" he whispered. "No!?" he said a bit louder that time. He took a step forward and jabbed his index finger into Dean's chest as he growled, "Now listen here Mr. Dean Winchester." Dean took a shuddering breath to compensate for their closeness. It wasn't even that he was afraid, he figured, it was just... something else. "When someone like me gives you the opportunity to save yourself," he clenched a fistful of Dean's shirt for emphasis, "It would be wise of you to take it."

He released Dean from his grasp once more and Dean released a breath he didn't know he had been holding.

Without waiting for a response, the vampire grabbed Dean by the hand and pulled him through the forest, away from the oncoming threat. They moved at an amazing speed, due to the vampiric strength, and soon they were in a completely different part of the forest. The leaves had shifted color, it was significantly colder and Dean could smell the vague smell of popcorn, indicating that there was human life nearby.

He realized that even though they were relatively safe, the vampire was still holding his hand tightly, almost possessively. He pulled away his hand to scratch his head and look around, but not before blush stained his cheeks.

"So um," he stammered, trying to look anywhere except at the vampire, who he could feel staring at him, "What now?"

The vampire knit his eyebrows together again and Dean swore that if he didn't cut that out his face would get stuck that way. "What now?" he repeated, "Now you go back to where you once came and I never see you again."

Dean's chest clenched a little at the words, but he chose to ignore that. "Well I guess this is it then."

The vampire's expression softened slightly as he said, "Yes, I um, suppose it is."

After an awkward pause, Dean outstretched his hand, suggesting that they get properly acquainted. The vampire stared at his hand, as if contemplating what to do with it, until finally he took it in his own hand and shook.

"So um, yeah you know my name, and I guess this is it Mr..."

"Castiel."

Dean swallowed the urge to make fun of his silly name, not wanting to anger him further. "Castiel," he tested it on his tongue, "Interesting name." He bit on his lip to refrain from laughing.

Castiel, who most likely sensed the human's amusement, tightened his grip on Dean's hand, causing him to yelp in pain. "It was given to me by the Council, and it means shield of God. If I were you I would think twice about gigging." He finally released Dean's hand, much to Dean's relief.

"I was not giggling," Dean protested, "Men don't giggle."

"Well," Castiel said as he crossed his arms and smiled smugly, "You must not be a man then."


	2. A Task Like No Other

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean wants to repay Cas for not draining him of his blood.

He tossed and turned that night as his mind bounced between deep sleep and vivid nightmares. Not of the vampire, surprisingly, but instead the nightmares consisted of all the other terrors he saw and killed on a daily basis. Demons and Wendigos danced a dance of death inside his head as they killed his brother Sam over and over, all of them laughing their cruel, menacing laughter. 

Sometimes the nightmares got so intense that he would wake up screaming and drenched in sweat.

And that's exactly what he did that night. He dreamed that somehow Sam, who's eyes revealed that he was a demon, got hold of his demon knife and had him pinned down and was seconds away from slashing Dean's throat. Then, out of nowhere, Cas appeared behind Sam, gave Dean a gesture to remain quiet, and swiftly bit down into demon Sam's neck, draining him of blood within seconds.

When he abruptly woke up, he was panting. As he struggled to get his heart rate back to normal, an idea came to him. He needed a way to repay that vampire for being so uncharacteristically kind and saving his already doomed life. He knew that a thank-you card was too simple, and yet a bouquet of flowers was a plain no. His mind was racing the day before with all the possibilities he could pursue, until finally, he came to one idea. In fact, it was so obviously perfect that he was amazed that he only just now had been thinking about it. His idea started with the fact that:

Vampires need blood.

That much was easy to understand. Blood to a vampire was like pie to Dean; a necessity to survive. He figured that since the vampire let him go yesterday, it was pretty unlikely that he got his required daily blood percentage. For some crazy, messed up reason, this actually made Dean feel bad.

Don't get him wrong, he was more than glad that people weren't getting attacked by too many vampires, he was freakin' overjoyed even.

However, the vampire had been so nice that his plan to help just seemed like the right thing to do.

Figuring that he had no chance of getting back to sleep, Dean decided to get out of bed completely. While he went through his morning routine, he pieced together the details of his plan.

As he let his pancakes cook until they were solid enough to flip, he picked up his cell phone and instinctively dialed Sam's number. He had a hunch that despite the early hour his brother would still answer his phone, and after three rings, his theory was proven correct.

"Hello?" Came the sleep heavy answer.

"Rise and shine Sammy, I need your help."

Dean heard Sam groan and what sounded like a mumbled curse. He smiled.

"Dean it's freakin' five a.m. What use could I possibly be to you?" Sam yawned loudly for an added measure to emphasize underline and italicize how tired he was.

Unfortunately, Dean did not get the message.

"Listen little bro I'm gonna need you to sweet talk that wife of yours, I'm kind of in a situation." Dean tried to sound completely casual, but he knew that Sam could always see right through him.

Sam furrowed his brow as he glanced to look at his sleeping wife, who was currently a mess of blonde curls and quiet, soft snoring.

"What can Jess help you with?"

"Well, it's like this Sammy," Dean started, rather uncertainly, "She still works at that blood bank right?"

___________

Seven arguments, six compromises, and one burnt pancake later, Dean's plan was nearly complete. Although he had expected Sam to argue with him about why "borrowing" a few bags of blood was bad and then to hear Sam and Jess arguing about whether or not they wanted to help, he didn't predict that Jess would have actually wanted to talk to him directly.

Arguing with someone as sweet and fragile as Jess was like telling a child they're about to die. There's no logical way to do it.

"Oh Dean," cooed Jess in that sweet, sweet voice of her's, "Now just what is this all about stealing blood I hear?" Dean tried to explain that he wanted to simply reward a vampire by giving him a bag or two of blood while not sounding like a madman, which was no easy task.

"Good heavens!" Jess exclaimed, kind of sarcastically, Dean noted, "Seems like a rather peculiar vamp you got on your hands. Based on the way you described him, this seems very important to you... I'll be happy to help Dean!"

Her agreement to help both relieved and confused Dean. Why had the way he described Cas been what sold her? What the crap was she implying? Had it been because he hadn't called Cas a good for nothing, blood sucking vampire? Maybe she had presumed they were friends because of how he may or may not have lingered on the description of his eyes for a bit too long, perhaps. Had his mutual respect for the guy come off as admiration? Whatever the reason, Dean was just glad that he would soon have a gift to rid him of the obligation he felt towards this newfound acquaintance.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> High school freshman me would rather die than use a swear word in a fic and it shows. Jess was also a southern belle in my head, apparently. 
> 
> We trudge on!


	3. The Peace Offering

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dean gives Cas a gift for sparing his life.

Cas could smell a fresh victim as well as a bloodhound could smell, well, anything. His nose sniffed rapidly and his mouth salivated heavily. His stomach grumbled and twisted as he was reminded that he hadn't had a fresh, living, human kill in what felt like months.

None of his brethren had chosen to only feed off of animals, so why had he? For some unfathomable reason, Cas simply felt sorry for the poor, defenseless humans and couldn't stand watching them fight for their lives, only to achieve nothing but an increased heart rate, satisfying the predator even more. Cas especially didn't like the blood curdling screams the stupid prey would make even though their fate was inevitable. He kept telling himself that these were the parts he despised, when in actuality, these were the best parts.

He wasn't hunting because he missed it, but because he needed it. His body was starting to get twitchy and paranoid, he felt fatigued more often than not, and as he tried to live amongst the humans he would notice that his fangs were out at the oddest times, as if they had a mind of their own. He wasn't about to feed for his selfish needs, but really he was just taking one for the team. Better he fed now than wait until it was too late and totally flip out, killing everything in sight.

He crept up upon the human, staying a few yards behind him. The scent of blood was so strong it basically stabbed his nose and tickled his fangs with lust.

Slowly, ever so slowly, he inched behind the human. His back was towards Castiel, which was perfect considering what was about happen. A voice in the back of mind tried to tell him that this was a bad idea, that so many deaths in the same place would raise suspicion and they'd get found out, but that little voice was being smothered by a different voice telling him to hurry up already. And so he continued to approach the man with the dirty blonde hair, careful to not make unneeded noise and scare off his prey.

It was weird really, how the man was just standing there, as if he was waiting for something. The way the man held himself sparked an air of familiarity inside Cas, but he was too hungry to concentrate on it. Now he was about a yard or so behind the human. He adjusted his footing as he got ready to more or less pounce on his soon to be dinner. His vampiric strength kicked in as he ran over to his prey. In the split second before he made contact with the human, the guy turned around, revealing Dean's face.

Cas quickly closed his mouth, but it was too late to stop his running. He tackled Dean to the ground, making him groan from the impact.

"Dude," Dean wheezed. He found it hard to talk after having the wind knocked out of him, and the fact that Castiel was still on his chest didn't help the situation either. "If I would've known you were gonna get all excited and hug me, I would've taken the time to wear a helmet." Castiel, who was feeling extremely weak from not having his necessary blood refill, slowly pushed himself off of Dean's chest.

When his eye caught Dean's, he paused and exclaimed, "Dean!? What are you doing here? You were to never come back here."

Upon realizing that Cas was still very much on top of him, Dean's cheeks betrayed him as they burned bright red, forcing him to advert his eyes. "What? How could I resist someone as charming as you?," he said sarcastically as he started to get up.

Cas got up before he did and put his hand out for Dean to grab. Dean eyed his hand suspiciously for a second, a bit caught off guard by the simple gesture of kindness. He reasoned that this was just another way the guy made sure there were no hard feelings, so he accepted the hand to help him up.

Once he was upright, he dusted the dirt off of his pants and walked toward the bag on the ground. Cas had not noticed the bag until that moment, so he tilted his head and eyed it with confusion. Dean picked up the bag and saw him in that adorable yet confused expression of his, which caused him to smile for a second.

Dean cleared his throat before he started. "So uh," he said, "I uh, wanted to um..." Why was it so hard talking to this guy? In general Dean was as charismatic as the next guy, but when it came to talking to Cas his mouth didn't seem to know what to do and his thoughts scattered. It's probably because he's a flippin' vampire, Dean thought.

His arm automatically thrust out the bag before he told Cas what was inside. "I uh wanted to thank you for not killing me and stuff so yeah." His words came out very fast and mumbled and he wondered if Cas even heard him. Based off of his still perplexed face, he guessed not.

Nevertheless, Cas reached out and took the bag, much to Dean's relief. As he opened the bag, Dean watched in slight amusement as his eyes got wide when he saw the contents.

"Blood!?"


	4. The Freaks Come Out at Night

Castiel did not like to be surprised. He saw being caught off guard as a form of weakness, and the word 'weak' and 'vampire' should definitely not be in the same sentence. He hated surprises as much as he hated werewolves, and his new human acquaintance was really starting to tick him off.

He stared at the bag in his hands, mouth slightly agape, and contemplated what he should do. It was filled with a bunch of smaller bags of blood and he could just feel the drool pool up in his mouth. He knew Dean was looking at him with expectant eyes, waiting for him to say something. A 'thank-you', perhaps.

"Dean I, um, appreciate this, I do, but-" he had to advert his eyes at this point to avoid Dean's confused and almost brokenhearted gaze. "I, I can't accept this," he whispered.

Bullcrap, Dean thought. The guy chooses now to be modest? "And why can't you?" After all the trouble Dean went through to get the stupid bags of blood, the least he could do was accept it and release the obligation Dean felt on his shoulders.

Cas took a deep breath before answering, although this did nothing but make the smell of fresh blood flow through his nostrils.

"I can't accept this because-" he hesitated. He tried to think of a better excuse as to why he couldn't accept the kind offering. He figured that saying accepting free blood from a mortal whilst his brethren had to vigorously hunt for their share was unfair and wrong, but that seemed like a weak argument. They would smell the blood on him, that was for sure, but it's not like he could share the blood with them either. He knew that they would demand to know where it came from. Lying wasn't an option, since vampires could always tell when you tried to pull a fast one on them.

"On second thought," Cas began. He decided that he could use a vacation away from the pack for a little bit. "I guess I could take these off of your hands..." He knew that accepting the blood meant that he would have to distance himself from the nest for a while, and he knew he would gladly do it. He couldn't let them find out about Dean, he just couldn't. Dean was his human. He felt a weird sort of obligation towards the strange mortal, and so he would protect him from his fellow vampires.

Dean let out a sigh of relief. Now he wouldn't have to try and return the blood and face Sam's ridicule. He could just feel the obligation lifting off his shoulders.

"Enjoy it," Dean said, turning around to leave. He took a step away from the vampire only to halt when he felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Wait where um," Dean turned back around to look at Cas, just in time to see him pull back his hand quickly. And was it just his imagination, or did he see a hint of pink blush stain Cas' cheeks? "Where are you going?" Cas continued.

Dean cleared his throat and said, "Back to my motel room. Why?" He furrowed his brow and stared at the peculiar vampire, who currently refused to make eye contact.

"I was just wondering," Cas timidly said as he stared at the ground. He couldn't exactly understand why he was so shy all of a sudden. "I was wondering if it was possible for me to accompany you, so that I may enjoy your kind gift in peace, far from my family." He didn't bother to go into detail about how severe the consequences would be if they were to be discovered casually sharing blood.

There was a moment of silence as Dean contemplated his choices. He could either deny the vampire entry, thus not fully relieving his obligation, or he could put his trust into the creature and risk his own safety. Cas lifted his head up to look at Dean in anticipation of an answer, and Dean chewed his lip slightly as he thought. As he looked into Cas' pleading eyes, he noticed something. No where in the deep blue orbs was there any trace of the hatred that was evident yesterday. The more he stared into his eyes, the more compassionate and willing to help he felt.

Finally, he had come to a decision. "Alright, alright," Dean said, bringing his fingers up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "Sure. You can come over for a little blood tea party or whatever." Dean knew that Sam would be all over his case about how idiotic it would be to invite the enemy into your base, but he couldn't worry about that now. His keen senses were on hyper-drive now, patiently waiting for Cas to give him even half a reason for him not to trust him.

Cas smirked at Dean's sarcasm, but he was relieved nevertheless. He was so relieved, in fact, that he couldn't help that his small smile grew into a real one. The big toothy grin that spread across his face was close to radiant, and Dean couldn't help but blush and smile himself, and then scold himself internally for being so girly.

"Welp," Dean said as he clapped his hands together, "We better get a move on while the sun's still up. You know what they say."

Cas tilted his head, causing Dean to involuntarily giggle. "And what might that be?" he asked.

Dean took a step forward, towards Cas' ear. As a reflex, Cas sucked in a breath. He was used to being the on who got close to people and intimidated them, not the other way around.

"The freaks come out at night," Dean whispered in his ear. He turned around and started towards the direction of his motel as Cas released the breath he was holding. As he followed Dean, he smiled a small smile to himself as he felt a jolt of pride rise up inside of him as he realized he was indeed, one of those freaks.


	5. Apparently, Vampires Enjoy Spongebob

"How is it probable that a talking sponge can befriend a sea star?"

The question made Dean look up from the newspaper he was reading. When he looked up he saw a cross legged vampire sitting on his bed, mouth completely covered in blood from the bag he was drinking out of. He waved the question off as freakin' stupid and instead of answering it he got up walked over to Cas.

He dared to take a glance at the screen and saw what he was talking about. "Why are you watching this bullcrap?" he said as he snatched the remote out if his hands.

Cas knit his eyebrows together, for he had been mildly enjoying the program, but he still didn't complain as he changed the channel. He had decided earlier that if he was going to spend the day with Dean and down the bags of blood, he might as well be comfortable, and so he leaned into the headboard of the bed a little bit more.

Dean flicked through the channels, giving each one of them three seconds to prove themselves worthy of watching, until he finally settled on one.

"Here's uh, something," he said as he went to the guide to find the name of the program, "It's called Duck Dynasty, I guess."

Cas nodded his head in silent agreement and patted the spot next to him with his free hand, the one that wasn't holding the precious blood.

"Sit down with me Dean," he said, not looking away from the screen.

Dean looked down at the spot with uncertainty. Sitting down next to an obviously hungry blood sucker, when he himself was full of blood, wasn't exactly the best idea. Despite the voice in his head yelling heck no he still sat down because hey, this was Cas.

He couldn't exactly place it, or even determine exactly what "it" was, but all he knew was that him and Cas had "it", whatever it was. In simpler terms, he felt a strange sense of trust within Cas, as if he had known him for way longer than he had. And so he sat down and even kicked his shoes off. Might as well get comfy while watching TV right?

Beside him, Cas was trying to sort out a whirlwind of thoughts. _Why is this human being so trusting towards me?_ he thought. Just by Dean's posture and the fact that he went walking through forests with weird knives and guns was enough to let Cas know that he was obviously a hunter. Knowing this made Cas a bit uncomfortable, another feeling he did not like. _What could he be planning?_

The more he thought about it, the more he realized it was as if he was being lured into some sort of trap. With this in mind he decided that he would have to be careful with what he chose to do or say to Dean.

________

Dean woke up with a start. Not only was he confused about where he was, but he had an exceptionally hard time breathing. Something heavy was on his chest and his eyes couldn't focus fast enough for him to make out what it was.

Slowly, a giant ball of dark brown hair started to come into view, along with the TV and the rest of the interior of the motel room. His body relaxed when he realized it was just Cas' head on his chest and also his arm wrapped tightly around his waist.

And then his body tensed up when he realized that it was _freakin' Cas' head on his chest and also his arm wrapped tightly around his waist._

Dean knew that vampires did a lot of crap, drinking the blood of innocents being one them. He knew that they hunted for prey and stayed in packs like the animals they were, really he understood. But never, ever, in a million years would he have guessed that a vampire as fear inducing as Cas would stoop so low as to _cuddle_ , and with a human no less.

The thought made his face scrunch up, and then his mind presented him the details of his current predicament. He had to pee, badly, but he was pretty sure that moving from a sleeping vampire's possessive grasp was a felony. He didn't want to wake Cas up, half to respect Cas' nap and half to save his own skin from being bitten by a startled vampire who arose before he was suppose to. His mind weighed the pros and cons of his situation for a while.

Pee and get bitten, don't pee and stay alive.

Pee or stay alive.

Get bitten or don't pee.

He couldn't remember the last decision he made that was this difficult. Before he could fully make a decision, Cas, thankfully, started to stir on his own. He shifted once, twice, three times until he finally let go of Dean's waist. He slowly started to rise and Dean wasted no time before he was up and hurrying to the bathroom.

As he stretched, Cas mentally scolded himself for his unconscious actions. He never even slept by anyone in the nest, so where had this come from? He blamed it on the fact that he was probably just so full from all of that warm blood he had had a couple of hours ago and that somehow, it had made him feel the need to snuggle.

He contemplated slipping out and going back to the forest while Dean was relieving himself but decided against it. He knew his fellow vampires would be able to smell the blood on him, heck he could even smell the blood on him, so he had no other choice but to wait it out with Dean for the time being. He laid back down on the bed and watched TV, although he didn't pay attention to it.

When Dean came out of the bathroom he found Cas lying there with his eyes closed, presumably sleeping. He reasoned that he was a decent length away from the dozing vamp, so it was as safe a time as any to wake him up. He clapped his hands loudly to get his attention, and that's exactly what he got. Maybe even a bit more than he wanted.

As soon as he clapped his hands, Cas involuntarily jumped up from his resting position and was in front of Dean's face in a split second. The unexpected reaction caused Dean to jumped back a few feet and nearly jump out of his skin.

"What the-" he yelled before he tripped and slammed into a wall. Cas was curious as to why he looked so startled, and then he remembered that humans don't have such excellent reaction time.

"Did I frighten you, Dean?" he said with a smirk.

Dean kept his mask of a casual expression and said. "What? Me? No, course not." He timidly started to walk back to Castiel. "I was just wondering if you wanted to get out of this stuffy motel room is all."

The smile dropped from Cas' face. "Dean I don't think-"

"Oh crap!" Dean said, suddenly realizing. "Vampires can't go in sunlight can they? They'll like, explode or somethin' right? Sorry I brought it up."

"No it's not-"

"It's fine man," Dean interrupted. "We can just stay here if you want, no big deal."

If he would just shut up for second, Cas thought. "The sun is not the problem," he said through gritted teeth. "I'm worried that if I were to be seen in public with a mortal, word would get to my brethren fairly quickly."

"Oh." Dean said, trying to not sound disappointed. "But you can still go in the sun though?"

Cas sighed and explained, "Vampires don't 'explode or something' in the sun. We just get extremely bad sunburns." Dean's cheeks heated up from the embarrassment of being so far off.

"Well then," Dean said as he scratched his head, "No outside for you then."

"Not necessarily," Cas interjected. "It's highly possible for us to venture into the outdoors, if I didn't look like myself."

Dean thought for a second until a slow smile tugged on his lips as he realized what Cas meant. The smile Dean gave him made Cas want to have good ideas more often. _It could light up a room_ , Cas noted.


	6. Nobody Likes a Teacher's Pet

It wasn't cute.

That's what Dean kept telling himself, over and over in his head as he watched Cas pick out various t-shirts. Cas showed him each one and asked about the logos on the front, what they meant, why they were there, etc. Dean tried not to smile after each question, he really did, but each inquiry was just so curious and Cas asked them so seriously and it was just so... Not cute.

They were currently in a nearby drug store, rummaging through hats, shades, and fake mustaches galore. The trenchcoat was left at the motel (after much protest from a certain vampire) because it was decided that it would draw too much attention, which was exactly what they didn't need. So far Cas was in a baseball cap for some team no one heard about anymore, a fake mustache that resembled his own hair color as closely as possible, and before they left Dean was making _sure_ that he swapped the freakin' Hawaiian shirt Cas picked out for a more reasonable one.

Dean would have felt better if he would have picked out a cooler shirt, such as a Batman one. But that wouldn't be right, since he was Batman himself, so Cas needed something like Superman.

"Dean," Cas said while holding up an AC/DC shirt to him, "What about this one?"

A huge grin spread across Dean's face as a glint of pride welled up inside of him. Dean was almost positive that Cas' taste in music was heavily influenced by him, since he was control of the radio and played non-stop tunes while they were at the motel.

"Yeah," Dean said without breaking his grin, "It's perfect Cas."

Cas gave a small smile, happy to have picked something that pleased Dean, and started to put most of the other shirts back. When he finished, he turned around to find Dean, but instead saw a couple of humans he didn't know. He turned around in a circle, trying to see where Dean went, and wondered why he would have left him. He figured he probably had a good reason and would be back soon, so he rummaged through the clothes again as he waited.

A few minutes later, Dean appeared in his peripheral vision and he released a sigh of relief.

"Dude," Dean said as he squirted a clump of sunscreen into his hand, "Don't move."

Cas obeyed and let Dean smear big globs of sunscreen all over his face and neck. It was cold to the touch and tickled with a ferocity that made Cas move and wiggle and try not to laugh. He involuntarily jerked his arm as the sunscreen was put on his neck, knocking the bottle out of Dean's hands and spilling some onto his shirt.

"For crying out loud," Dean said through gritted teeth as he inspected the sunscreen on his shirt, "Freakin' stay still!"

His raised voice got the attention of the people around them, so he lowered it to a whisper. "If you don't let me put this on or you don't put it on yourself you're gonna fry like a pancake as soon as we step outside." To a bystander this probably sounded like a threat, but it was merely the truth.

Cas gave him one of his famous glares and retorted, "Maybe if you didn't have such dainty hands -or at least let me put the cream on myself- we wouldn't be having this petty problem, now would we?"

Dean's eyes got wide at his friend's sudden sass and he blushed lightly. He had dubbed Cas as being sort of stuck up and only able to speak formally, but now he wasn't so sure.

Dean opened his mouth to say something, but a voice from behind him beat him to it.

"Castiel? Is that you?"

Dean watched the blood drawn from Cas' face as he looked past Dean to see who was talking. Dean turned around and saw a blonde haired, blue eyed, and fairly scrawny kid, probably a teenager. He was doing the adorable head tilt thing that Cas did sometimes and Dean already did not like him because that was _Cas'_ thing, not this random guy's.

"S-Samandriel," Cas said, not daring to step around his human shield that was Dean, "W-what are you doing here?"

Based off of his sudden nervousness, Dean could tell that Cas felt uncomfortable around the guy, and so he could be a potential enemy. He didn't bother to move from his protective stance in front of Cas, rather he gave the stranger in question his best glower.

"I'm picking up sunscreen," the teenager said without breaking eye contact with Cas, barely even noticing Dean, "What are you doing here?"

Cas took in a breath to steady his nerves before answering, "I am getting sunscreen also."

Samandriel knit his eyebrows even closer together. "Is that so?" He shifted his eyes to Dean as if noticing him for the first time, "And who's this?"

Dean looked to Cas for an answer. "I was about to ask that same question," Cas said. "I'm Castiel," he said, shaking Dean's hand, "and you are...?"

Dean's confused expression melted away as Cas' plan dawned on him.

"Oh I'm Dean," he said while shaking Cas' hand for a bit longer than what was deemed necessary, "Thank you so much for the directions to the nearest gas station." Since his back was facing Samandriel, Dean added in a wink for good measure, causing Cas to bite back a grin.

They finally released hands and Dean made his way out of the aisle, deciding that it was best to give the two vamps some privacy. However, as curiosity got the best of him he stayed in earshot and went into the next aisle, reasoning that they couldn't need _that_ much privacy. In the aisle next to theirs he picked an opening in between some cereal boxes so that he could still see what was happening.

There was a long beat of silence. Castiel refused to make eye contact whilst Samamdriel couldn't seem to get enough of it. He watched Cas like a hawk as he fiddled with the buttons on the AC/DC shirt he was wearing, and Dean resisted the urge to go help him get through the silence.

"So..." Cas said, in an attempt to quiet down the extremely loud silence, "See any good shows lately?"

Samandriel snorted instead of answering. "Where have you been Castiel?" He stepped closer to him and Dean's fists clenched. "You smell..." He took a big whiff of breath, "Different."

Cas kept his pulse steady to avoid Samandriel sensing his guilt. He knew what he was smelling was the blood Dean gave him, and he fought off a fond smile as he remembered how good it had been drinking it.

"Perhaps it's the excessive amount of sunscreen I'm wearing," Cas said in his best attempt to be convincing, "It's a different brand from what we usually buy."

Samandriel's glare turned lethal as he stepped so close that he was inches away from Cas' face. "If I didn't know better," he said while Dean tried to contain his anger in the next aisle, "I'd say you smell like blood, brother." He paused. "But I do know better," he said as he took a step back, "And I also know that my nose must be stuffed up because the immense amount of blood it's telling me you've recently digested is impossible, considering what Raphael told us."

Cas kept his curiosity contained and kept his face blank. "Please refresh my memory brother, to which commandment are you referring to?"

Raphael was the feared leader of their pack of vampires, and what he says goes. His demandments ranged from little tips such as always having non-blood stained teeth in public, all the way to the pack not being allowed to drink O- blood in the winter. Of course, Raphael was allowed to break any of his rules, but that was besides the point. Considering that he was the alpha, the oldest living vampire in their regimen, they figured that he was entitled to certain privileges and knew better than most.

Castiel, however, did not think this way in the slightest. He was constantly breaking the small commandments out of spite. He believed that Rapheal was a terrible and cruel leader, and he had good reason to. Raphael's punishments were always extreme and undignified, and everyone knew who his favorites were.

Samandriel was one of those favorites.

"The most recent one," Samandriel said, "He has instilled upon us a blood cleansing. He says that we must go at least one week without a drop of blood, so that we will build up will power and our appreciation for the precious substance will increase."

Castiel clucked his tongue in disapproval. Vampires as old as him were able to go a while without blood, but all of the recently turned vampires would undoubtley suffer great pain from the withdrawal. It was highly unlikely that Rapheal would obey his own laws anyway, so why was he being so unnecessarily difficult?

"Castiel," Samandriel said, breaking through Cas' thoughts. "You know what I have to do now."

Castiel scrunched his eyebrows together in confusion, and then his eyes went big in realization.

"You wouldn't," he whispered.

Samandriel sighed. "Castiel there are multiple offenses against you at present. You smell as though you've recently _bathed_ in blood, you've been missing for days, you're socializing with a human, that shirt you're wearing looks ridiculous-"

Cas had to draw the line. "The last two 'offenses' you listed aren't even offenses, and how dare you insult my choice of attire." Dean was glad he said something before he got the chance to because he was seconds away from revealing his hiding spot and drop kicking the blonde guy for the both of them.

"I hope you understand why I have to report this to Raphael," Samandriel finished. Dean watched Cas' shoulders tense up, which only confirmed that this was a bad sign.

Cas thought quickly. He had to think of a way to convince Samandriel, one of Rapheal's most trusted play things, to not rat him out. So he thought of a plan.

"Well," Cas said, "What if, theoretically, there was a way I could get you your own share of blood? You wouldn't even have to kill anyone."

Various emotions painted Samandriel's face: confusion, skeptism, suspicion, even slight horror as he realized that Cas wanted him to betray Rapheal, his trusted superior.

Cas had to admit that it wasn't a very good plan.

Instead of answering, Samandriel used his vampiric speed to get out of the store. He moved so fast that it was almost as if he vanished, the rustle of nearby papers being the only proof of him even being there in the first place.

Dean came into the aisle with Cas. Cas' back was turned to him, so didn't see him approach. When Dean put his hand on Cas' shoulder, he jumped a little. Cas whipped around to face whoever was making contact with him, and relaxed when he saw that it was only Dean.

Dean gave his shoulder a light squeeze and said, "It's ok man, don't listen to the little runt. Who does he think he is anyway?"

As he spoke, Cas felt the back of his eyes heat up, and he noticed his heart rate quickening. He tried to concentrate on what Dean was saying, but all he could focus on was the inevitable. He knew that once Raphael caught wind of his rebellion, he'd be hunted down, and that meant any "accomplices" would be severely punished as well.

He was endangering Dean. How could he have been so blind? Of course this was bound to happen; it was all his fault. He tried to listen to the encouraging words Dean was saying (didn't he know it was hopeless?) but all he could focus on was protecting Dean, and what their next move would be.

"-all we have to do is make a plan and then we can get through this." Dean gave a gentle smile and released Cas' shoulder. Cas returned the smile as he noticed how Dean had said "we," meaning he would help fight a battle that wasn't his. Cas couldn't tell if he respected that decision or if it just made him worry more.

Nevertheless, the human's optimism in such a dire situation made his insides grow warm, and before he realized what he was doing, his arms were coming up and pulling Dean into a firm hug. It took Dean a few seconds to register exactly what was happening, since Cas moving towards his neck area should not have been a good sign, but when it clicked he timidly lifted his arms to hug back. It took all of his willpower not to delicately run his fingers through Cas' presumably soft hair, so he couldn't help but grip Cas' shirt to try and restrain his wandering hands.

The hug went on way past the amount of time of an average hug, neither of them willing to let go just yet. Finally, Dean pulled away, but let his arms linger around Cas, and locked his green eyes on Cas' blue ones. Before he spoke he noticed a new emotion in Cas' eyes, but he immediately waved the possibility off because it didn't make sense. Why would Cas, a bajillion year old vampire, feel safe in his arms?

He cleared his throat and said, "They're not gonna get ya you know, not on my watch." Cas looked away and shook his head. "I'm serious," Dean continued with a humorless laugh, "They won't get you because I have a plan."

Cas' eyes flicked back up to see a mischievous smile on Dean's lips. 


	7. I've Got a Dark Alley and a Bad Idea

The sun was setting, giving the landscape a bright orange hue that melted into a magnificent purple and blue shade. The stretch of road went on for miles and was almost empty, give or take a few cars. All of them were moving at a slower pace in an effort to soak in as much scenery as possible. One car in particular, a 67' Chevy Impala, was not going as slow as the other cars, as if the driver had somewhere important to be.

Their surroundings were a thing of beauty that Dean could appreciate, but it was not the right time to enjoy nature. He could almost feel how tense Cas was in the passenger seat, and this only made him want to go faster. Before they had set off, he had explained to Cas his plan. Granted packing all of their clothes, bagged blood, and toiletries and running like the wind away from their problems wasn't exactly a _good_ plan, but it was their only option and he didn't hear Cas complaining.

He wondered what it could be that was making Cas so distracted to a point that his eyes were glued to the window, when earlier, on their way to the drugstore, Dean had caught Cas staring at him several times (not that he was constantly looking at him or anything). He would stare back for as long as one could as one drove a car, but Cas always won.

But that was then. Now Dean didn't feel the heat of eyes staring holes into the sides of his cheeks, but it wasn't like he missed it or anything. He looked over to Cas again, just to make sure, and felt only disappointment in his gut as he saw his friend continue to dramatically stare out of the window.

 _Wow,_ he thought, _those vampire movies weren't kidding when they said vampires were moody_.

Feeling bored, Dean reached out and cranked the radio up, something he should've done ages ago now that he thought about it.

This seemed to get Cas' attention and he looked at him, for a split second, before turning back to the window.

Something in Dean snapped.

"Alright!" he said, startling his passenger, "What's up with you?" Usually Dean didn't vouch for heart-to-heart, touchy-feely, "chick flick moments," but Cas was starting to tick him off with his loud silence. And besides, he had already been _cuddled_ with that day, so really, how much more of a girl could he possibly get?

Cas looked at him with his regular perplexed gaze. "Nothing."

"Don't give me that crap," Dean spat at him. "I told you that we're gonna be fine. Why don't you trust me?"

"I do trust you," Cas said with full honesty. He couldn't help but trust Dean, despite the short time they'd known each other. "I'm just skeptical about your so-called plan."

Dean wanted to say things. He wanted to say things such as "everything will be fine," or "I won't let them hurt you," or some kind of reassuring bullcrap that would give his friend some optimism, but all he managed to do was click his tongue and turn his attention back towards the road.

Cas stared at the side of Dean's face for a bit, feeling guilty. It was obvious that he had hurt Dean's feelings in some way, probably from the lack of faith in his plan, but he couldn't help his caution. Being a vampire also called for being cautious, having strategic movements and well thought out game plans. Putting a certain amount of blind faith into something was one thing Cas was not familiar with.

However, as he continued to look at Dean, only to have Dean return his gaze, Cas decided that having faith, along with using sunscreen, drinking refrigerated blood, and trying on new clothes, would just be another thing he was willing to try for his new human friend. With this realization he gave Dean a real smile, which made Dean's lips twitch and turned his attention back towards the road. Cas then said, "So, Dean, what's the next step in this great plan of yours?"

After a cough to clear his throat, Dean said, "Well, after we get to a motel by Sammy's house, we'll crash there for a day or two, just to throw those bloodsuckers off your scent. Then, um, we can, uh-" Dean paused and thought for a second. "Go somewhere else I guess. I haven't really thought that far into it yet."

"Well take your time," Cas said, trying to be helpful. "We have a long drive ahead of us... Should we do something to pass the time?"

"Like what?"

"... I don't know."

"No," Dean said, jerking his head to the side to look at him, "You hesitated. You have something in mind."

"Perhaps we can play a game?"

"What kind of game?" _For a thousand year old vampire he sure enjoys childish things._ "Do you know any good car games?"

Cas stared out the window while he thought. "Um... 20 questions? Is that a game we can play?"

"Yeah ok," Dean said, "Tell me when you've thought of something."

A beat of silence passed and then "Ok. I'm ready. Begin your inquiries."

"Ok. Uh, is it an animal?"

"No it is not an animal, Dean."

"A place?"

"No it is not a place, Dean."

"A person?"

"No it is not a person, Dean."

Dean couldn't help but chuckle a little bit at the absolute intensity Cas brought to the game. His staring before the game was nothing compared to what he was doing now. He wasn't blinking, wasn't moving for anything except to say _No it is not [insert what you just guessed here], Dean._ The weirdest thing, however, was how absolutely unfazed Dean was by the staring. He just kept firing out questions, only to have them shot down by Cas, and not once did he remind him about how impolite staring was. Social graces and all that crap.

By the time Dean was on his last question to whatever the freakin' heck Cas was thinking of, he was borderline desperate. The only hints he had was that the thing was famous and loud. If he hadn't already ruled out that it wasn't a person, the answer could've fit about 95% of the celebrities he knew of, but it wasn't a person, and he really should've just said his wrong answer a while ago to save them both the trouble.

"Is your thing... I dunno one of the original _Star Trek_ movies?" Dean guessed with an exasperated sigh.

Cas looked at him curiously. "I'm sorry but I don't know what you are referring to."

"You haven't seen the Trek movies? Now that's a freakin' shame. As soon as we get to the motel, we're having a marathon. But seriously dude, what were you thinking of?"

"The thought I had in mind was of Beethoven's ninth symphony." Dean's long bit of silence made Cas wonder if now _he_ was the one who didn't understand the reference, and so he went on. "It happens to be one of my favorite works by him. Did you know that while he conducted it, he was completely deaf?"

"Dude! You said it was a classic!" Dean was a sore loser. "As in, you know, classic movies!"

"No, Dean, I said it was _classical._ "

Dean snickered. "Cas."

"Hm?"

"I don't think you really get the concept of 20 questions." Dean risked a look at the confused vampire. "You gotta think of something that's kinda obvious. Like, not something that's so obvious that it's easy to guess, but just something that everyone knows, you know?"

Cas thought about this for a second. "Alright. I think I understand what you mean."

"Ok," Dean said, trying to get back to the distraction, "But anyway, I'm thinking of something."

* * *

Several rounds of 20 questions later, Dean pulled into the parking lot of a motel about a mile or so away from Sam's place. They would need to go to his place in the morning, since, in their hasty exit, Dean had neglected to take a fair amount of money with them. He hoped his brother wasn't still sore about having helped Dean's new trenchcoat wearing companion, which more or less put his girlfriend's job in jeopardy, and would even be willing to spot him a few several dollars.

"Hey, do you mind going in and booking us a room while I park?" Cas said he didn't mind and took the money Dean offered him. Once Dean had his baby nicely parked, he went inside the motel. Cas gave him the keys to their room and Dean dragged his feet towards their temporary living space, the exhaustion of driving for 10+ hours just now hitting him. He unlocked the door, did a quick survey of the room, and once he deemed it free of any unwanted vamps, demons, or other undesirables, Dean kicked off his shoes and collapsed onto the cheap bed. After his eyes were closed for awhile, he realized something.

He had fallen onto the bed. As in, _the_ bed. Bed was singular.

There was only one bed.

Why was there only one bed? There were two of them, no couch, and just the thought of the millions of different bacteria on the room's floor made his stomach do a flip, so either of them sleeping on the floor was not an option. Why would Cas order a room with one bed? Dean's heart started to race as he thought of several reasons why. Perhaps Cas wanted them to trade off sleeping; one sleeps while the other keeps guard. Or maybe this was one of his more elaborate schemes to guarantee that Dean would sleep with him, which would allow him to do as much _cuddling_ as his heart's desire.

Or maybe he just didn't think to check how many beds there were when he made the reservation, probably the first motel reservation he ever made. Dean marked this as the only reasonable answer and decided to stick with it.

The lack of noise Cas was making unnerved him. By now he would have already tuned into one of his childish shows or some lifetime movie. Dean dared to open one eye to see what he was up to.

Cas was pacing around the room, hands behind his back, with an expression on his face that Dean could only describe as "constipated."

"Cas?"

Cas abruptely stopped pacing to answer. "Yes Dean?"

"What are you doing?" Dean pushed himself up until he was in an upright position. "What's wrong?"

Cas stared at him for an extended period of time, unsure of how to answer, until he released a sigh. "I'm... hungry, Dean."

This was a bit of a surprise to Dean. They had literally just eaten some drive-thru cheeseburgers not even a half hour ago. "Still? Do you want me to order some pizza or somethin'?"

Cas vigorously shook his head. "No, no that's fine. It's not _that_ kind of hunger. Forget I said anything."

"No tell me. What are you hungry for? We can literally get anything. Chicken, chinese, ribs-" The desperate look in Cas' eyes made what he was craving dawn on Dean.

Blood.

Of course.

Why hadn't he thought of that sooner? Why hadn't he actually planned ahead to make sure Sam had a pack of blood or so ready to go by the time they got there? Was it really that easy for him to forget what Cas really was?

"I'm sorry man, we're fresh out of blood."

"Oh no Dean it's perfectly fine, I didn't mean to-"

"But we're not fresh out of _fresh_ blood." Dean hopped off the bed and moved into Cas' proximity, adrenaline from his not fully thought out plan coursing through him.

"Dean, I don't understand." This was what Cas said, but Dean could tell by the way his face went pale that he could sense what was about to happen next.

Dean grabbed the collar of his shirt and yanked it down, exposing most of his neck and thick, blue veins. Cas' mouth filled with saliva so quickly that he had to look away.

"Cas," Dean whispered, "Bite me." He didn't know what exactly fueled his brash decision, besides the fact that he felt the need to help his friend out. He wasn't sure what happened when vampires went too long without the proper blood dosage, but he did know he didn't want the pleasure of finding out.

"D-Dean," Cas said, backing away, "No. Please, no." Dean followed his steps until Cas' back was against the wall. "I-I won't be able to s-s-stop."

Cautiously tilting his head up to force him to meet his gaze, Dean said, "Do you trust me?"

Cas, dumbfounded by the randomness of the question, answered truthfully. "Yes, of course."

"Well, I trust you too. I trust that you're not gonna go all blood crazy on me, so maybe you should learn to trust yourself more. Now Cas, please just shut up and bite me." Cas' eyes looked as though they were absolutely pleading for a way to escape the inevitable.

Finally, he surrendered with a sigh. His eyes focused on the veins inside Dean's succulent neck, and he could just hear the blood pumping, louder and louder. The longer he stared, the louder the blood became until he could hear nothing else but Dean's heart, beating over and over, as if it was calling out to him. Perhaps it was.

Cas tried to be rational. He attempted to weigh the pros and cons of biting Dean and letting his rich, crimson insides fill his mouth, but his brain could only focus on the pros, and thus further convinced himself of how much of a great idea it was, and so he leaned in. His mouth opened slowly while he involuntarily grabbed Dean. He could feel Dean tense under his grasp, so he loosened it, but still did not let him go. His fangs, the eager little traitors, shot out of his gums as he leaned in closer to Dean. Before he would allow himself to take the first bite, however, he looked up to Dean's eyes one last time, as if searching for permission.

Dean had been watching him the whole time, and he found the whole ordeal extremely fascinating. Cas' eyes told him how crazy they were with blood lust, but his contradicting movements showed high amounts of self control. When he saw Cas look back up to him, similar to how a puppy would when begging for a treat, Dean had to remind himself that that moment was an extremely inappropriate time to laugh at his over-politeness.

So, Dean gave him slight nod and a mental _go for it,_ and Cas did not have to be told twice.


	8. All That Shimmers is Not Blood

It was strange.

Of all the ways Dean would've described having his blood sucked by a vampire, none of his descriptions would have been accurate. Words such as _agonizing, excruciating pain,_ or a _merciless and quick death_ came to mind. Instead, even though Cas was literally sucking the life out of him, his fangs felt no different than the needle doctors use when giving patients shots. Except, this time there were two needles, and they were on his neck. _  
_

But it wouldn't be the first time Cas had surprised him.

Dean bit down the urge to struggle under Cas' strong embrace. Cas, probably unbeknownst to him, was gripping Dean so tightly by his arms that Dean felt as though he was beginning to see spots. Or perhaps that was due to the effects of the sudden loss of blood. Either way, Dean could feel that he was seconds away from passing out.

Cas, in contrast to Dean's discomfort, was in absolute bliss. He felt the warm, crimson river splash across his teeth and lapped at it greedily with his tongue. He couldn't remember the last time he had tasted fresh human blood, and he definitely couldn't remember the last time he bit something, like actually bit something that was _alive._ He loved how the veins pulsated on his lips and how in that moment, Dean's life was in his hands. He could drink him dry if the mood struck him, and he missed having that kind of power with a passion.

The most endearing part, however, was surprisingly not the taste, the texture, nor the nutrients he knew he was soaking in by the boatload. The best part about feeding from Dean was the mere fact that he was feeding from _Dean._ The idea made his own heart race almost as fast Dean's. At this proximity, Cas could inhale as much of Dean's scent as he pleased, and so he did. He sniffed and sniffed, trying to place exactly what he was smelling. It was a good smell, like a mix of leather, beer, the inside of the Impala, with a very faint trace of vanilla. Most of the smells so heavily permeated Dean's life that he could understand why they were still on him but, vanilla? _It must be from his shampoo_ Cas reasoned, as he continued to bask in Dean's several, heavenly smells.

Seconds of feeding turned into a minute, and that minute into two minutes. Cas had long since got his fill of blood, but was too far gone to realize what he was doing. Dean, on the verge of passing out and whose vision was getting darker around the edges, tried to get Cas' attention, but found that he couldn't exactly form the words.

"Ca-! Caa!"

He tried to say Cas, over and over, but each time it came out sounding like a cough. He was about to try once more, just to humor himself into thinking he would be saved in his last moments, but then his knees buckled and sent him crashing to the floor. And, inevitably, Cas fell with him.

The fall seemed to jerk Cas out of his stupor as his greedy fangs retreated back into their places. His eyes swept over the scene underneath him; Dean's neck was smeared with blood from his lack of precise feeding practice, and now his body lay crumpled on the floor. Unmoving. Panic shot through his entire system as he grabbed his human, the human he was supposed to protect, and shook him vigorously.

"Dean!" Cas yelled, to no response. He placed two fingers on his still bleeding neck to check for a pulse. To his relief, he found one. "Dean," he said in a choked whisper.

Emotions. Emotions were something a vampire rarely felt, but he noticed that lately, as he spent more time with his human friend, the emotions he had stored away deep inside of him had chosen to make an appearance on more than one occasion. In that moment, with his only friend in his arms as he watched the life drain from him, Cas' emotions chose not to creep up to the surface, but moreso launch themselves to the forefront of his mind.

It was painful.

And fast.

It was overwhelming, to feel such human sensations when his instincts to help Dean should have been on red alert. Tears formed at the corners of his eyes as he pulled Dean closer, silently willing him not to go towards the light and slip away from him forever.

Steadily, as if unsure, Dean's heart rate went from teasingly slow to gradually faster. Cas could feel it on his chest as he hugged his human, and his hope for his survival seemed more realistic now. Cas pushed Dean back slightly so that he could look into his face. To his disappointment, Dean's eyes were still sealed shut.

"Dean?" he croaked.

The lack of response was enough to make his eyes start filling up again. Soon his eyes became so blurry that they weren't able to see Dean's eyelids flutter, ever so slightly, followed by the twitching of his lip. What Cas was able to sense, however, was the way his heart rate was not only getting faster, but _louder_ to his ears. This wouldn't be the first time though, since hearing one's heartbeat was one of the vampiric skills he was very keen on perfecting.

Then, as if like clockwork, the dam holding back his tears broke and released his tears, and at that very moment, Dean let out a cough. Startled, but hardly surprised, Cas wasted no time to pick Dean up and place him gently on the bed.

By then, Cas' scattered brain was coming back to him and he slipped into healing mode. He knew exactly what to do; if there was one useful thing Raphael had showed the pack, it was acknowledging and mastering all, or at least most, of their skills. He suddenly remembered a very useful trick, one that he had been taught centuries ago.

The blossoming blood on Dean's neck was relentless, and Cas felt himself pale in shame. As he got closer to inspect the wound, he antagonized himself for being so sloppy and reckless with his precious, fragile human. He leaned in to Dean's neck space, a territory he was familiar with by now, and gently placed a kiss on the holes his fangs had made. He lingered a bit, for longer than what was necessary, and just let himself inhale Dean's calming fragrance.

Several seconds later, when he finally pulled away, he watched his handy-work come into action.

The holes in Dean's neck slowly, yet surely, started to fade and smooth themselves out, transforming from gaping holes to just skin. The blood, that Cas was more or less tempted to lick off to avoid wastefulness, retreated back into Dean's body. The whole process lasted seconds and when it was over, you could hardly tell that there had ever been a bite there at all.

Cas sighed in relief at the same time that Dean sucked in a breath. His eyes flicked open as he desperately inhaled another breath and pushed himself into an upright position. Cas watched, frozen in place, as his jade eyes scanned the room, as if trying to remember where they were, until landing onto Cas.

"That," Dean rasped, coughed, and continued, "Was not ok." He was holding up an accusatory finger at Cas as he talked to emphasize his words, but really it did nothing more but ignite a pit of rage from within Cas.

"You were the volunteer who persuaded me to drink from you in the first place!" Anger made the back of his eyes burn, and although every part of his instincts told him to act upon his fury, he held back for Dean's sake.

"Yeah I said you could _feed,_ not _eat._ " Dean had no trouble whatsoever letting his anger be known. "You almost drank me dry! What the heck, Cas! I thought we were friends. Were you really willing to kill me for your own sick pleasure!?"

After acknowledging that every fiber of his being wanted very badly to knock Dean's lights out, Cas remained in control of his anger. "I told you, before we started that I wouldn't be able to control myself-"

"But I trusted you!"

"And I trusted you!" Cas retorted, letting his voice rise. "You let me think that it was ok! That nothing would go wrong! Now look where that got us!"

Dean's cheeks bloomed crimson as he realized the truth in Cas' words. "Cas-"

"But of course, it's all my fault." Cas' voice dramatically went from a thunderous yell to a choked whisper. "Everything is always my fault..."

"Cas."

Bowing his head, he said "I should've known better than to trust a human-"

"Cas!"

Startled by the obvious pain in Dean's voice, Cas looked up to see Dean's eyes getting to be just as misty as his were. "Cas, please don't- It's not your-" His words refused to form correctly.

After a few moments of tense silence, Dean sucked in a breath. "You know what? It's fine. I'm fine," he touched his heart to emphasize that it was, indeed, still working, "and of course you're fine." Dean adverted his eyes after he realized his odd choice of wording. Why the 'of course'? It sounded like he was calling Cas hot, but that wasn't what he was trying to do. Yeah Cas wasn't bad looking with his big blue eyes but-

Ok no. Dean mentally scolded and threatened himself for letting his mind wander about how attractive this dude who almost killed him was. Emphasis on _dude_ and _who almost killed him._

Cas didn't know what was going on in Dean's head, but he did find it amusing as he watched his human's cheeks burn red, almost as though they were on fire.

"Let's uh... drop it. Ok?" Dean looked up to Cas with pleading eyes to change the subject, and to his relief, Cas replied "Alright."

"Good. Um, I'm gonna go to bed now." Tugging and rustling on top of the bed sheets, Dean weaseled his pants and jacket off, then he pulled the cover up over his head as he attempted to get comfortable. Cas watched him while he did this. "Well? You comin' or what?" Dean shut his eyes and pretended to snore obnoxiously loud, just in case Cas didn't get the hint yet.

Cas did, in fact, get the hint. He began taking off his shoes and, reluctantly, his trenchcoat. He stripped until he was in a t-shirt and boxers, same as Dean, and then he timidly crawled underneath the covers.

Dean contemplated the idea of setting ground rules for their bed sharing situation, but thought better of it. If the thousand year old vampire wanted to subconsciously snuggle him while they slept, well, Dean would just have to be a man about it. Besides, it wasn't like it was an _uncomfortable_ experience.

Already, as Dean feigned sleep, he could feel the body heat emitting from his friend, and it was very welcoming. Drawn to the heat like a bug to a light, Dean scooted over towards Cas, just a little bit.

It didn't go unnoticed.

Cas didn't bother to pretend to be asleep and was instead very much awake, and his eyes were locked on Dean's peaceful face. When he felt Dean get closer, he involuntarily did the same. It felt like the natural thing to do. Being so close to Dean, although still not touching, had a tranquilizing effect on Cas, similar to when they were watching TV. Back at his vampire nest he rarely found such serenity, but now, it came naturally when Dean was present and close.

With Dean, soaking in Cas' warmth, and Cas, basking in Dean's peaceful aura, it was not long until both were fast asleep.


	9. Drive Thrus: An Unappreciated Resource

It's one thing to go to bed with someone after having a huge fight, with the side fact that your death was almost caused by them.

It's another thing _entirely_ to wake up and find yourself subconsciously clinging to said person as if your life depended on it.

Head on Cas' chest, legs tangled together, and one arm clinging to Cas' side, Dean awoke the next morning in horror. His first instinct was to unlatch and detangle himself from his friend before he woke up, to avoid the inevitable awkwardness of their current situation. However, his body didn't seem to want to listen to his panicking mind. The cheap motel room was cold and Cas was a walking, talking, furnace with skin, so it didn't take a genius to figure out how desperately Dean's limbs must've sought out warmth during the night.

Nonetheless, Dean began to slowly untangle his legs and scootch away from his companion. Interestingly enough, Cas, a certified cuddler in his own right, was not clinging to Dean. This discovery baffled Dean and made him feel a tad upset that the snuggling, or rather, the _manly survival trick to keep warm,_ was only one sided.

Thinking no more of it, Dean slipped on a pair of jeans and headed into their small, motel kitchen. He had the intention to whip them up a decent breakfast, but after finding little in the fridge besides a few cans of beer and several sticks of celery, his motivation drained away. He trudged back to the bed and patted Cas on the back a few times.

"Hey Sleeping Beauty," he teased, "Up and at'em. We got lots of stuff to do and almost no time to do it."

Cas grunted in reply but made no attempt to move.

Dean gathered their things while he said, "I'm serious man, get up."

This time Cas offered no reaction to entertain him. Dean's stomach growled and reminded him that they did not have time for this. If Cas was going to act like a child, he could certainly treat him like a child.

Dean strode back over to the bed and hesitantly reached underneath the covers. He maneuvered his hands until they found their destination: Cas' sides. Immediately, Dean began to run his fingers up and down his sides, provoking a wild reaction from his victim.

Cas had never been tickled before, but he knew what was happening. Studying humankind long enough allowed him to recognize that Dean was instilling the same comedic torture upon him that was traditionally used on young children, and so he more or less panicked. As soon as Dean started tickling him, he couldn't help the string of frantic giggles that spilled out of his mouth, and although this must have been a signal for Dean to continue, Cas desperately needed him to stop. His pulse was rising and so was his adrenaline. It woudn't be long until his fangs shot out as if they were being summoned.

Dean was not aware of how uncomfortable Cas was. Cas was hysterically laughing; his face was beet red and tears were forming in the corners of his eyes. Because of this positive reaction, Dean was enjoying himself and made no intention to stop until Cas got his lazy butt out of bed.

Struggling to breathe, Cas pushed Dean off of him and jumped off the bed in one swift motion. Confused, Dean collided with a wall behind him and dropped to the ground. Wasting no time, Cas came over and bent down until he was face to face with Dean. His face was still red from the lack of oxygen, but from Dean's point of view it just emphasized the anger his eyes expressed. His bright blue eyes were a stunning yet scary contrast in the midst of it all.

"Dean," Cas growled, "Please do not do that again."

"Well if you would've just gotten up when I asked," Dean said, pushing himself off the ground, "I wouldn't have to do that crap." He was long past being afraid of Cas' oh so scary vampire death stare. "C'mon," he said, grabbing his keys and turning to look at Cas once more, who was still in his boxers and t-shirt, "Let's get some grub in you before you try to eat me again," he said with a wink.

Cas rolled his eyes as he looked for his trenchcoat.

* * *

"Will that be all, sir?"

Dean licked his lips and thought for a moment before turning to his passenger.

"Are you sure you don't want anything else Cas? We'll be on the road for a while."

"I'm sure Dean, thank you." Cas knew that it was risky enough that he was eating human food in the first place, he couldn't imagine the damage he would be doing to his body if he was constantly stuffing his face with the slop.

"You're sure you don't want to try a double Whopper though? I heard it was something that you could really sink your teeth into." Dean batted his eyes innocently as he waited for a response, as if he hadn't just made a 'vampire's have fangs, get it?' joke. Cas smirked but didn't allow himself to humor him with a sarcastic response, so instead he just stared at him. Before their staring contest could be official, however, the voice from the drive thru box interrupted.

"Hello? Sir? Will that be all?"

"Huh?" Dean ripped his gaze away from Cas, "Oh yeah... uh- Yeah, that's everything."

They were told their total and given the direction to pull up to the next window.

"Do you know what I love, Cas?" Dean said with a smile on his face.

"No," Cas replied, "but I am sure you're about to tell me."

"I love," Dean continued, "Drive thrus."

"Thank you for sharing, Dean."

"No," Dean said as he reached out his window and handed his money to an employee, "but let me explain to you why I love them."

As Dean started his list of the various good qualities of the average drive thru, Cas' eyes drifted to the rear view mirror. The random cars he could see in the mirror were significantly more entertaining than Dean's rant, not that he would ever let him know that.

"...and one of my favorite parts is that you don't have to get out of the car. Like, I could literally be wearing a onesie and bunny slippers, and no one in the restaurant would know! Also..." Whatever Dean was saying was going in one ear and out the other as Cas concentrated on the mirror for no particular reason. In the reflection he saw a black Hummer directly behind them. Out of pure curiosity, and his desperate need to tune Dean out, he focused on the faces of passengers.

"...and without that, we'd never have napkins in the car. Nobody buys napkins specifically for their car, right? Every napkin you will ever find comes directly from a drive thru bag and…" The front seat passenger of the car had a full head of silky, dark brown hair that cascaded over her shoulders. She had a smug expression on her face and her dark brown eyes directed their attention out the window. Cas got the odd sense that he had encountered her before.

"I'm sorry I'm rambling, but really, what I'm trying to say is, you know those little packets of ketchup they put in the bag?" Cas nodded without looking away from the mirror, pretending he was paying attention. "Those are just so convenient, especially for me and Sammy when we were growing up. Dad never really got around to grocery shopping but Sammy could basically drink ketchup. Just imagine how helpful those free packets were to us..." Cas' attention moved on to the driver of the vehicle. He was looking down, presumably on his phone, and Cas took into account his features. He was dressed in all black, just as the women was, and this directed attention to his pale blond hair.

"Jeez, where is our food?" Dean had finally got the hint that he was being ignored, and so he wrapped up his important revelations about modern day food service and how fast it was, which apparently, wasn't entirely accurate due to how long they'd been waiting. Cas continued to stare at the man in the Hummer, anxiously awaiting him to lift his head. He needed to make sure it wasn't who he thought it was. His expression of concentration must have come off as an expression of pain because it caused Dean to ask "Hey, you alright buddy?"

Cas didn't answer as he watched and waited. Finally, the driver quickly lifted his head and Cas was met with a pair of blue eyes looking straight at him, a pair of eyes bluer and even icier than his own.

"Dean," Cas whispered, hands immediately grabbing his arm. "Dean, drive."

Dumbfounded, Dean said "What? Dude, are you crazy? We didn't even get our foo-"

"Dean!" yelled Cas. He grabbed Dean's shirt and pulled him close and gave him an explanation in a mad rush of words, "Dean every second you refuse to drive this car very far away from here is a second more you put our lives in danger because I didn't recognize them at first but Samandriel and Meg are in the car behind us and I am certain they have been tailing us for a long time so please Dean," Cas leaned his head forward, causing Dean's breath to hitch, and bumped their noises together, "please just drive!"


	10. Put on Your War Paint

Dean stared at Cas, mouth slightly agape. Was he seeing things or was Cas actually scared? It felt silly to think that this thousand year old vampire was actually frightened of his own kind, no matter how threatening. Most likely, whatever punishment they had in store for Cas wouldn't be overwhelmingly painful, since his crimes of bending a rule or two and running off with a human were petty.

Cas saw the incredulous look in Dean's eyes and released his shirt as he backed out of his personal space.

"Here's your food, sir," said a scrawny teenager with curly red hair, freckles splattered all over his face, bearing an expression that said his employers didn't pay him enough to care about anything. The word "sir" was strained when he said it, as if it literally pained him that his job forced him to be polite.

Dean blinked a few times at Cas, still a bit confused, and then reached out the window to exchange his money for the paper bag full of their highly anticipated prize for being patient: greasy fast food. "Thanks, kid." He pulled it into his lap and looked back at Cas, who was still staring at him.

"Cas," Dean sighed, "I highly doubt that the people in the car in back of us are who you say they are. If they were, wouldn't they have made their move already?"

Cas thought about this for a second before responding, "I understand where you are coming from Dean, but there are various reasons as to why they are withholding their plan of attack. They could be waiting to see where we drive off to, and then infiltrate our headquarters. Or, this place is surrounded with my brethren and they are waiting for a cue." Cas sniffed the air before continuing. "No, I do not smell several vampires nearby, only the distinct smell of a couple."

Cas was talking as though they were in a James Bond movie and it was freaking Dean out. "Alright, I'm gonna start to slowly drive away and see what they do." Cas glued his eyes to the rear-view mirror as Dean pulled out of the drive-thru. Sure enough, the black Hummer, without collecting its food, started to follow them after no more than five seconds later.

_Crap_ , was the only thing Dean could think of as he stepped on the gas, accelerating them off the main road and onto the highway. Dean realized that this was a serious situation, and that it could very well result in both of them dead. Despite this realization, a twinge of excitement shot through him as he thought about how he was in a freakin' _vampire car chase_ and how he was so gonna rub that in Sammy's face. You know, if they ever made it to Sammy's alive and in one piece.

Cas' thoughts buzzed around in his brain, struggling to think of a way to elude their pursuers. They could keep driving until they lost them, but they tried that already. They could access the dozens of different vampire killing weapons he was sure Dean kept in the back trunk, but Cas didn't actually want to off his brethren, more so just slow them down. _No,_ Cas thought as his brain gave him another method of defense, _no more running and hiding. This has to stop._

"Do you know the area around your brother's house well?"

"Yeah," Dean answered, trying to keep the suspicion out of his voice. "Why?"

"Pull up into an alleyway near his house. I have a plan. Sort of."

They sped down the highway towards Sam's house. Dean got an uneasy feeling in his stomach about leading those beasts to his baby brother's humble abode, but at least there were only two of them. They had faced worse and Dean trusted that Cas knew what he was doing. As they got closer to their destination, Dean peeled the Impala off of the highway, only to be followed by the black Hummer, of course. He led their tag alongs through a series of twists and turns just to mess with them, and after a few minutes, Cas looked back and revealed that they were not being followed anymore. Dean let out a sigh of relief, but Cas was not so easily convinced.

"Don't let them fool you," he said. "Stick to the plan and pull into an alley." Dean did what he was told and hid the Impala in between a wall and two large dumpsters, blocking Cas' door and exit route. Undeterred, Cas promptly pulled the keys out of the ignition and climbed over Dean's lap to get out of the car. This startled Dean, but before he could protest Cas said, "We need to go to your trunk and arm ourselves." Finally, something Dean could agree with.

They rummaged through the messy trunk, moving guns and silver out of their way, hands going straight for the dead man's blood. They came in small vials, but there were several of them. Cas pulled out one of the water guns he had talked Dean into buying while they were at the drugstore, along with their cheap disguises. Dean, irritated that what he initially thought of as a child's toy and a waste of money but turned out to be of use, snatched the water gun from Cas' hands as he began to open the vials and carefully pour the blood in. Cas had a smug "I told you so" smile on his face that Dean was pointedly ignoring.

As they finished equipping themselves for the boss battle, Cas pulled on a baseball cap and lathered on a bit of sunscreen (minimal protection against the sun, but still, Dean insisted). With dead man's blood water guns shoved into all available pockets, Dean then made a call to Sam.

One ring.

_C'mon Sammy, pick up_.

Two rings.

He should have been expecting his call. Where was he?

Three rings.

He's not answering, what if the vampires have already gotten to-

"Hello? Dean?"

"Oh thank god." Dean let out a breath of relief. "Jeez Sam you had me worried, I thought the vampires had gotten there-"

"Wait, what? Vampires? As in, vampire plural? You said you were just bringing Cas, as in, one vampire."

"Well yeah, see, that was the original plan, but then while me and Cas were gettin' some grub these two stalker vamps snuck up on us and followed us here-"

"Followed you here? What?"

"Sam, you know how much I hate repeating myself."

"You led them to my freakin' house?! What about Jess, Dean? How am I suppose to protect her from a nest of vampires trying to rescue one of their own kind?"

"Ok Sam, look." Dean let out an over-exaggerated sigh. "One, I need you to meet me and Cas in the alley about a block away from your house. Two, we are in said alley, and thus, we did not lead them to your _house_ thank you very much, we're not stupid-"

"Cas suggested you park there, didn't he?"

"Sam, that is besides the point, do not interrupt me." Sam snickered through the phone. "And third, bring whatever vampire fighting weapons you have-"

"Dean," Cas said, tugging on Dean's sleeve.

"Cause I have the strangest feeling these suckers have called in for back-up-"

" _Dean_."

"Hold on Sam, yeah Cas?"

"Dean," Cas was using that tone Dean hated that was suspiciously close to one someone would use when addressing a small child, "Our goal is not to kill them, they are my family, technically." Cas watched as Dean's eyes softened with understanding.

"Sure thing Cas. Uh, Sam? Only bring the non-lethal artillery, you hear me? Put some of the dead man's blood in some water bottles, works like a charm." Dean gave Cas a small smile, "That idea was Cas', I'll give him that one."

Dean ended the phone call and began to wait patiently with Cas for Sam's arrival. Minutes passed and neither of them spoke a word, both too lost in their own thoughts.

Thoughts that were running circles about the potential harm the other might face in this fight.

Cas leaned against Dean's shoulder and stared at a light pole as he fretted over Dean's chance of survival. It wasn't as high as he would have liked it to be. He knew his family, no matter how much he disliked them, and he knew for a fact that somehow Raphael would find a way to twist his escape from the clan into some kind of dramatic kidnapping, and Dean would undoubtedly pay for it with his life.

Over Cas' dead body, that is.

Cas now realized, or maybe he had always known, that he was more than willing to sacrifice himself for the sake of Dean. Heck, he even saw it as his 'duty` to do so. Perhaps he felt this way because of Dean's near death experience back at the motel with the whole blood fiasco. Perhaps he was starting to grow attached to this strange human, this human who had a knack for terribly unhealthy food, forbid him from touching his car radio, and had a death wish fetish that involved tickling things that were ten times more lethal than he would ever hope to be.

Perhaps.

Either way, if it came down to it and Dean's life was on the line, Cas knew right then and there that he would do everything in his power to save him.

**Author's Note:**

> I published this story on a different account back in 2013. Currently I'm forcing myself to read through and republish this and other works to see how far I've come as a writer. Nothing about this series in particular strikes me as bad, I would just go about many things very differently. For example, why is Dean horny for this vampire on sight? Idk man it's none of my business


End file.
